


Straightforward

by lucathia



Category: Hachimitsu to Clover | Honey and Clover
Genre: Community: 31_days, Gen, Post canon, word count: 100-1000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 16:10:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucathia/pseuds/lucathia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mayama's new apartment was on the third floor and overlooked the busy streets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Straightforward

**Author's Note:**

> A shortfic for [31_days_exchnge](http://31-days-exchnge.livejournal.com/) for the theme _she was just straightforward and couldn't help herself_.

Mayama's new apartment was on the third floor and overlooked the busy streets. When Ayumi first entered the apartment, she almost immediately wandered over to the large windows to peek out of them from behind the flowery drapes. She wondered if the slight murmur of traffic permeated the place at all times, but she hadn't been there long enough to figure that out.

She had been invited over along with Takemoto and Hagu-chan, both of whom she hadn't seen in what felt like years. She still called them constantly to see how they were doing, and she always asked if they had any plans of visiting. While everyone else had left to see the world, she remained behind like a girl who had yet to wake up from her fairytale.

This gathering was a moving-in party for Mayama and Rika-san, as well as a long awaited reunion all rolled into one. She had been the first one to arrive at Mayama's new place, though Mayama himself had not been there. Rika-san was the one who had let her in.

"Mayama's out buying ingredients for tonight's hotpot," Rika-san had said. She looked much healthier than when Ayumi had last seen her. Her skin had a glowing sheen and her small smile upon seeing Ayumi had easily brightened her eyes. Here was a woman who was thriving from being loved unconditionally. Ayumi couldn't help it when her hands tightened, crinkling the plastic bag she was holding.

The crinkling was loud in her ears, louder than the murmur of traffic. She quickly loosened her grip and held the bag up in front of her, smiling as if nothing was wrong. "I heard that we were having hotpot, so I brought some of my favorites to add to the pot!"

When Rika-san left to put the bag in the kitchen, Ayumi finally had her chance marvel at the tasteful apartment. She wandered to the large windows and then to waist-high bookshelves that served as a divider down the center-right of the room. Mayama and Rika-san had designed the place entirely on their own, adding personal touches here and there. The spacious bathroom had no doubt been Mayama's idea, having always wanted his own personal bathroom, not to mention that it would make Rika-san's life a lot easier. Ayumi had to wonder how it was like to have a place to call her own, a place that she could share with the person most important to her. She used to imagine how her life would be like in the future, years after she graduated, and Mayama had always been in her imagined future with her. Now when she tried imagining the future, all she saw was herself, alone, and the backs of her friends leaving her one by one.

"Would you like a tour of the place?" asked Rika-san when she came back into the room.

Ayumi nodded. "That would be wonderful!"

And so, Rika-san guided her about the apartment. What Ayumi loved best was the string of paper lanterns that hung from the canopy of the bed in the master bedroom. At night time, the lit paper lanterns would surely be a sight to see. It was such a romantic thing, though Ayumi was sure that if she ever had something similar, she'd manage to get herself tangled in it somehow.

As her eyes wandered around the bedroom, Ayumi noticed that in the corner of the room stood a ridiculously large flower vase, one that was almost as tall as Rika-san. It sported several stalks of healthy bamboo. Ayumi could feel a blush coming even as her lips started turning upwards in a stupid grin. The large vase was one of her recent creations, one that she had made to relieve stress. She never thought anyone would want the end result, and to see it displayed here made her deliriously happy.


End file.
